1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to stabilization of heliostat mirrors.
2. Background
A heliostat mirror is an astronomical instrument used to reflect the light of the sun, or possibly some other light or energy source, in a constant direction. A heliostat mirror may be the primary component in a reflective optical architecture that can be found in many applications including astronomy, solar power collection, and imaging systems.
An issue confronted by heliostat mirror systems is how stabilize a light beam's propagation or imaging path when the heliostat system is undergoing one or more exogenous disturbances. The disturbances may arise due to many sources, including platform motion (including vehicle motion if the heliostat system is mounted on a vehicle), associated rigid body and structural dynamics of the heliostat system, target motion, atmospheric dynamic effects on an optical line of sight, and possibly many other sources of exogenous disturbances. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of these issues, as well as other possible issues.